Beginners' Basic is claimed to be a teach-yourself, step-by-step guide to computer programming which can be used with all popular home computers including the BBC Micro and Electron. Any book suitable for all popular home computers must be a compromise and cannot deal successfully with all the idiosyncracies of each, and this is no exception.

Beeb and Electron owners will be disappointed to find the only references to their computers are on the front and back covers: there is no mention of the differences between the various machines or alternative programs. The beginner to BBC Basic will be left wondering why his or her machine does not always give the same results as those in the book. Some of the programs will not run on the BBC Micro or Electron, and others have a different screen format from the printouts shown.

Another limitation is that because the book aims to be suitable for all computers it cannot deal with the Basic keywords, which vary greatly from machine to machine. The book, therefore, does not deal with sound, graphics, procedures or saving and loading files. Some keywords available on many versions of Basic, but not BBC Basic, are included in programs, and this is not stated in the text. An example is the keyword RANDOMIZE, which BBC Basic does not recognise - the text mentions that the keyword is often not needed, but does not point out that it's not available in all versions of Basic and will cause an error.

I do not feel this book would inspire the beginner with confidence and enthusiasm. The style is rather dry and lacking imagination, the screen print-outs do not always look the same as in the book, and there are no sections to deal with individual machines and their differences.